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[cajobportal Insights] Wearing genes to an interview?

Imagine a situation where you are zeroing in on a CXO hire and a DNA test helps you assess the candidate’s power/endurance percentage, speed of recovery from setbacks thru his performance on Stress Genetics tests to testosterone production

DNA test results assess if they have the right aptitude, leadership capabilities and intelligence for the job.

You can genetically screen job applicants for traits such as honesty, leadership, being a team player, having a high level of emotional intelligence.

You can test your potential hires for susceptibility to heart disease, risk from occupational hazards

As per a study of 300 pairs of Swedish twins, genetic effects are responsible for 32% of the person-to-person variance in job stress, 35% of the variance in job satisfaction and 47% of the variance in health problems.

These mysterious building blocks of life i.e. DNA can help you check a lot about an individual and that too at an affordable cost of less than $ 1,000 as compared to $ 40,000 that you had to pay 15 years ago.

DNAFit

This is exactly what the Pharaohs from the Egyptian Football Association have used to bolster their performance, ahead of their World Cup entry. Insights from DNA testing are used in into player programmes, improving and maintaining performance by looking at the genetic make-up of the athlete and influencing diet, training and injury prevention

They curated a panel of genes associated to performance and endurance and made an algorithm.

“Egypt had their penalty shoot-out (against Burkina Faso), and DNA tests helped them select the right player for it basis his ability to dealing with pressure

This technique is now used across Premiere League clubs, NHS trusts through a company DNAFit.

Avi Lasarow, the founder and chief executive of DNAFit, maintains that talent is determined 50 % by the environment and 50 % by genetics.

Also a lot about nutrition can be gauged through these tests. For instance, Peter might have 7 cups of coffee and will feel pretty good + will sleep well tonight. His wife, on the other hand, if she has coffee past 12 o’clock, gets a bit anxious and can’t sleep.

That’s a great example of how your genetics will determine whether you’re a fast metaboliser of caffeine or not, based on a certain gene. And if you’re a fast metaboliser of caffeine, then an optimal amount can be preventative of heart health issues, whereas if you’re not, caffeine can give you an increased risk of heart health issues.

Based on their personal genetic make-up of players, we can change the types of treatments,down to the correct deployment of antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.

Caveats

Of course, a lot of ground needs to be covered before we can establish a perfect correlation between a genetic variant and a performance attribute. Because, even for the most closely genetically related individuals, identical twins – may look the same, but they do not usually have exactly the same abilities and achievements, or indeed health conditions

There are legality and data privacy issues as well

Summing Up

If businesses come to believe that some employees are born predisposed to leadership, they may be interested in identifying people early in their careers who have the genes that may help them become the next great CEO, CIO or CFO

Certainly, genetics can add a layer of information to our understanding of human development/behavior and help us find ways for all of us to thrive